Maharashtra: Cases cross 20,000 in state, another cop dies in Mumbai

Across the state, movement was sealed in 1,243 areas, which emerged as local hotspots. Till Saturday, 2.53 lakh people were kept in quarantine at home and in government centres like hotels, lodges, schools, hostels, sports complexes and marriage halls.

An area in Pune was sealed off with metal sheets after being declared a containment zone, on Saturday.

Maharashtra’s Covid-19 count crossed the 20,000 mark on Saturday with 1,165 new cases. The total case count in the state is now 20,228. The state also recorded its highest single day death toll at 48, taking the total count to 779. An assistant sub-inspector of police was among those who died.

Mumbai, the city with maximum cases in India, recorded 722 fresh cases. The city’s total case count stands at 12,864 and death toll at 489.

An assistant sub-inspector posted at VB Nagar police station in Mumbai succumbed to Covid-19 on Friday. The test results that came after his death were positive. He is the fourth police personnel to succumb to the virus in the city.

According to police, the victim was diabetic. On May 6, he had fever and difficulty in breathing, so his family rushed him to Rajawadi hospital. “As soon as he was admitted, doctors took his samples for Covid-19 tests,” an officer said.

For the next two days, he was under treatment but around 2 am on Friday, he passed away. “As his test results were not in by then, family members were not allowed to conduct the final rites,” the officer added. At around 7.45 pm on Friday, hospital authorities got his test results, which confirmed he was infected with Covid-19. His family members have been quarantined.

So far, 714 policemen have been infected in the state that includes 81 officers and 633 constables, of which 81 policemen recovered but five succumbed to the virus.

According to data released by the state government on Saturday, at least 27 people died in Mumbai, 10 in Pune, eight in Malegaon, one each in Akola, Nanded and Amravati. Officials clarified that the eight deaths in Malegaon occurred between April 25 and May 8 and were verified on Saturday.

Across the state, movement was sealed in 1,243 areas, which emerged as local hotspots. Till Saturday, there were as many as 2.53 lakh people in quarantine at home and in government centres like hotels, lodges, schools, hostels, sports complexes and marriage halls.

In Mumbai, the civic body has urged people to remain at home in isolation if they test positive but have no symptoms, co-morbidities or may be young. Civic officials said in order to prevent deaths, focus will remain on first providing treatment to the elderly and people with co-morbidities. The BMC has requested those suffering from moderate or mild symptoms to first reach out to 1916 helpline and wait for a bed to be assigned to them. The Maharashtra Emergency Medical Services (MEMS) 108 ambulance has been instructed not to transport patients to multiple hospitals until BMC assigns the patient a bed. “This has been done to prevent patients from visiting several hospitals without knowing where beds are available,” an official from MEMS said.

Meanwhile, 10 policemen posted at Nirmal Nagar police station tested positive for the virus. Deputy Commissioner of Police Manjunath Singhe (zone VIII) said, “Our policemen were managing the crowd at Baharampada in Bandra (east), that’s when we believe one of our constables got infected. However, when one of them started showing symptoms, we sent him for Covid-19 test and as his report came positive, all his close contacts were made to undergo the test and on Saturday it was clear that even they are infected.”

Amravati recorded one more death on Saturday, taking the total number of fatalities in the district to 12. The victim was a 53-year-old man from one of city’s containment zones.

Akola, which has seen 12 deaths so far, had 10 more positive cases on Saturday. Nagpur, meanwhile, has an overall case tally of 281 with 71 being discharged so far.